By William H. Freivogel Judging from the comments this week from conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, Missouri and its far-right ally The Gateway Pundit are likely to lose their attempt to silence federal officials who press social media companies to take down false or dangerous posts. Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and
By William H. Freivogel On March 18, Missouri and its legal ally The Gateway Pundit will try to convince the U.S. Supreme Court that the Biden administration violated the First Amendment by “coercing” social media companies to “censor” false conservative posts on vaccine and election denial. The argument comes less than a month after the
By Jackie Spinner The part-time faculty at Columbia College Chicago, where I teach journalism, was on strike for seven weeks, protesting cost-cutting decisions that will result in fewer teaching opportunities for instructors. It was the longest adjunct strike in US history before a tentative deal was reached on Dec. 18. The student newspaper, the Columbia
By William H. Freivogel The tricky thing about the First Amendment is that you have to protect the speech you hate as fiercely as the speech you love. You have to protect leftist speech as much as rightist speech. Communists as much as fascists. Religious fundamentalists as much as atheists. Calls for war as much
by Mark Sableman The journalist’s guide to the federal courts reminds reporters that “the media perform an important and constitutionally protected role by informing and educating the public.” It is a time-honored role, a duty to be the public’s watchdog on institutions, including courts. But if you’re a Missouri journalist and you subscribe to that
